Pink Fluff and Eye Dust
by Adrenalynn
Summary: Gau's birthday is nothing special; he wakes up, he makes himself look as least hideous as he can, he goes to make breakfast. It's no different from any other day of the year. Apart from the very pink, fluffy surprise he finds waiting for him on the sofa in the lounge... Raikou x Gau fluff (literally XD)


Seven in the morning; my eyes are all crusty and my bed smells of corpse flowers. I haven't looked at the clock yet, but I know the time because I always wake up on the dot.

Except, of course, this time I am waking up sixteen.

And don't I feel different. (That was a joke.)

Still in my pyjamas, I get up and go to the bathroom, rubbing at my eyes with the back of my hand sleepily. It's so hard to get the damn dusty stuff out of them in the mornings, but I guess it doesn't matter because it's all with good purpose.

Although I must admit, more than once I've spent so long antagonising over it that I've ended up looking like a man made of onions just punched me in the face.

Great morning look, Gau. Very sexy. Raikou will be impressed. Ugh, _not. _

I've finished now, and I'm cleaning up the rest of my face. Don't want to look so crappy and tired when Raikou wakes up, whatever time of afternoon that will be. I mean, it's not like he'd go for me anyway. But I can hope. And looking how I do right now will definitely _not _help my case.

Once dressed and showered - my hair tamed as much as I can, though it still vaguely resembles a toilet brush - I pad into the lounge and am surprised to see Raikou already up; sitting in his fluffy dressing gown on the couch with his knees tucked up and his hair - soft and unbrushed - falling gently around his shoulders. He's smiling and his reddish-brown eyes are locked on mine.

Inside, I pass out. Outside, I merely stare at him with weak knees, probably looking like a complete numpty while he just gazes at me, looking unpolished yet beautiful at the same time.

"Good morning, Gau," he says brightly; a small grin cracks that smooth tan face and I feel the crushing urge to squeal like a deranged fangirl until my lungs burn up, yet I restrain myself as best I can.

While I'm getting over my bewilderment at his early-morning perfection - worlds away from the messy catastrophe that is myself - my mind forms for me the most natural question I can pass off in my state: "Raikou? What are you doing up this early on a Saturday?!"

He blinks; his eyelashes are long and thick, dark and lovely. "Calm down, Gau... you're flushed. I just woke up; I can't say why. Do you want me to go back to bed and get out of your way?"

I shake my head frantically; perhaps a little too frantically, but I can excuse that because I'm still flustered by the remark he made about my face. "No! No, I'm... I'm glad you're awake. I don't mind at all!"

He laughs cheerily and pats the flowery seat beside him. "Come and sit down."

I blush, feeling my heart ramming itself into my ribs forcefully like a completely separate entity attempting to smash down a door. "But Raikou... I've got to make breakfast!"

"Breakfast can wait."

I wander towards him uncertainly before sinking down into the plush sofa; I'm tense and stiff, worried that I'll do the right thing and Raikou will shove me away. There's still several centimetres of space between us and I want to shuffle closer, but at the same time, I'd hate to invade his personal space or annoy him or something like that.

Without warning, he looks an arm around my neck and tugs me into him so that I'm leaning awkwardly into the crook of his arm with my cheek pressed against the warm pink gown covering his chest. I blush deeply. The closeness of him is so comforting, I could fall asleep on him right this second despite the fact that I've only just woken up.

His arm is awkward and the way I'm sitting isn't helping, so after a short mental debate with myself, I take a gamble and shift a little more. I'm still sitting in his hold, of course - I would never be the first to pull away when it came to Raikou-san - but this is a little more comfortable than it was, with my torso curled around his side, my legs tucked up and my ear against his chest.

Somehow, through all the layers of fluff, I can hear his heart, beating softly. I shut my eyes, relaxing into him after I see that he isn't complaining. In fact, much to my surprise (and my delight!), I feel him pull me in a little tighter.

It's subtle, so subtle I wonder for a moment if I was imagining it, but all my doubts are eradicated the second his head comes to rest atop mine.

"You're soft, Gau," he mumbles after a silence.

I blink, and when I reply, I try my hardest to sound less flustered than I feel. "Why do you sound surprised?"

He cuddles me and I blush. "Because your elbows are pointy. I figured your body would be bony too, but you're really soft..."

He tails away, leaving me to fill the empty silence. Somehow, I find my voice, despite the fact that my mind is racing too fast for me to keep up. "I'll... take that as a compliment."

A new thought emerges amongst the previous ones; does this mean what I think it does? That he's actually thought about hugging me before? Properly? In depth?

A silence falls, but not an awkward one. This silence is comfortable and content, and abstractedly, I find myself counting the seconds, wondering how long it'll take Raikou to realise he's hugging _me _of all people and pull away.

But he doesn't.

And after a moment, I realise that maybe I don't care what he thinks of me. He's hugging me. For whatever reason... this is the best birthday present I've ever had.


End file.
